Caring for Ourselves
Definition: Caring for ourselves is nurturing ourselves as valued whole persons to a place of optimal well-being.
Being aware of ourselves, being aware of what is working well or not, and caring enough to attend to our own needs is part of self-responsibility. We cannot be fully responsible to care for others and each other if we are not responsible for ourselves first. We honor ourselves through our individual awareness of self-care, energy, life balance, and striving to achieve optimal levels in each of those areas. Start where you are! The questions below provide ideas for self-reflection and opportunities to develop a “self-care” action plan.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What am I attending to?
- What am I ignoring?
- Where is my energy going?
- How are my thoughts and actions serving me (or not)?
- Where is my life out of balance?
- How do I maintain the areas I feel are already “in balance”?
Steps to self-care:
- Permission: give yourself permission to practice self-care. Give other nurses permission as well. The organizational culture needs to support this.
- Awareness: before a change toward self-care can occur, awareness must be heightened. Start where you are.
- Education: after one is aware of “where they are now” education shows them how to get to self-care. This education (knowledge and resources) is individualized to what each person needs. The Six Dimensions of Wellness, developed by the National Wellness Institute offers a model for education and creation of an action plan. They are as follows: occupational, physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional.
- Choice and setting intentions: you make the conscious choice to practice self-care and set your intentions. Intentions are stronger and more powerful than “goal setting” (the why behind the goals).
- Action steps: goals are set and action steps/strategies designed to achieve those goals.
- Components to include in a self-care action plan consist of: Relaxation strategies, stress management, physical exercise, yoga, massage, meditation, sleep, pilates, zumba, nutrition, a healthy workplace, to name a few.
